Gidget has only been available in widescreen on back channels from its TCM airings, this is good news. Great film, and not as "fun" as it sounds. Haven't seen the original Yellow Handkerchief but I've seen the William Hurt remake and that's enough for me. Bananas is pointless thanks to Arrow. Dr Doolittle and Sayonara are two of the worst films ever nominated for Best Picture

I am actually shocked that Dr. Dolittle wasn't already put out as some cheap studio release a decade ago. It's not good obviously but I'd imagine it has better name recognition than a lot of other stuff from the same period!

Eh, sadly some of us are still region locked and often depend on these Twilight Time releases. I want to say I read on this board once the rumor that Criterion could get Bananas and Take the Money and Run; I guess that speculation is over? Is Take the Money and Run his only film to not be available on blu ray whatsoever? One of my favorites from the early years.

If something's coming from Criterion at this point it's either one of the unaccounted for 90s titles from Sony or the 4K versions of Manhattan or Annie Hall, but I'd say it's very likely neither is coming. Take the Money and Run is releasing in October - Criterion *had* it, but let it lapse and Kino picked it up, for whatever reason (it wouldn't surprise me if once the Kino release comes it shares similar source problems to the recent releases, considering that's a big reason Criterion might pass if no features are allowed!).

The Twilight Time releases are so expensive that just the cost difference of three of them vs the Arrow releases covers the cost of a decent region-free player.

I've been lucky enough to pick up most of the Twilight Time releases of Allen films that I like during half off sales or heavy discounts. Are the Arrow transfers better? Can't imagine them being much different with the source issues you mention.

If Criterion doesn't release these new transfers of Manhattan or Annie Hall, will it just be MGM again?

They probably just won't be released on disc, to be honest. I guess it's not out of the question Kino'd be interested in a bare-bones re-release, considering they've been doing a lot of that.

The Arrow transfers are better in that they're better encoded but it's an incredibly minor difference as the sources are still the same and TT's never really had a problem with encoding. I just think if you care about this stuff enough to be on this forum it's really not inconvenient at all or a massive expense to go region free!

Haven't seen the original Yellow Handkerchief but I've seen the William Hurt remake and that's enough for me.

I haven't seen, and indeed wasn't aware of, a remake, but I'll stand up for The Yellow Handkerchief. It's a pretty simple story, which is actually very similar to and based on the same source as the 1973 pop single "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" (the source is a short story published in 1971 in the New York Post entitled "Going Home" by columnist Pete Hamill.) If a two-hour feature with the same theme as a cheesy 3-minute pop tune sounds perfectly awful, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Yamada Yoji is a master at the quiet character-driven melodrama (when he's not cranking out Tora-San movies, that is), as the many fans of The Twilight Samurai know. Even though most viewers will never be in much doubt about what's going to happen, Takakura Ken and Baisho Chieko (Yamada's muse) make you care and keep you deeply engaged in the movie. I'm really looking forward to this release as my copy of The Yellow Handkerchief is a dismal Panorama DVD, part of a marvelous 5-film boxset of Yamada films with woeful transfers and terrible subtitles (Beaver), all of which (most especially the wonderful A Distant Cry from Spring) I'm now hoping will show up in upgraded editions from this or another label.

Watched Picnic again. Your classic 1950s neurosis drama but despite those age marks at the same time there’s something remarkably fresh and modern in this film. Much of it is probably due to the cinematography, and of course the directing, that manages to create something almost tableau-like at times, slightly distancing, even if it’s not to the same degree as, say, Rebel without a Cause. That comes with some incredibly beautiful shots, much of it owing to shooting all those exterior scenes in a Kansas-setting, with lovely scope compositions. A great cast also, though William Holden’s acting is sometimes slightly over the top, and his 28 going on 40 deal is a bit much to swallow.

Twilight Time has indicated that they have three titles produced by Jerry Wald in the pipeline for the first half of 2018. Wald predominantly produced for Fox - a studio that has a deal with TT - in the latter part of his career, with a handful for Columbia, so speculate away!

Last edited by AfterTheRain on Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yamada's (The Happiness of) the Yellow Handkerchief is a melodrama, to be sure , but with an absolutely wonderful cast. Not quite as good, perhaps. as his The Call of Far Off Mountains (Haruka naru yama no yobigoe), but still very good.

Twilight Time has indicated that they have three titles produced by Jerry Wald in the pipeline for the first half of 2018. Wald predominantly produced for Fox - a studio that has a deal with TT - in the latter part of his career, with a handful for Columbia, so speculate away!